Category: Managing Emotions

Managing emotions does not mean controlling them or making them disappear. It means feeling them without losing your footing. These guides are for readers who feel overwhelmed, shut down or snap. Afterwards they wonder why a small thing set off such a big reaction. The guides explain what happens in the body as well as the mind. They also show what helps in the moment.

If you are new to this, begin with emotional regulation. It sets out what regulation is and what it is not. Then read about the window of tolerance, the zone where you can feel and still think. Nervous system regulation shows how to calm the body first. Emotional triggers explains why the past sometimes answers for the present.

The next group looks at the ways the body protects itself. There are guides to the fawn response, to functional freeze and to emotional numbness. Another covers the signs of hypervigilance. Others cover emotional flashbacks, rejection sensitive dysphoria and high-functioning anxiety. There is also a guide to catastrophizing. Finally, toxic positivity explains why forcing a smile makes things worse.

Managing emotions is a skill, and like any skill it grows with practice. So most of these articles end with a short exercise to try when a feeling rises. The Healing Your Childhood Wounds Workbook brings those exercises together. After all, many of the strongest reactions began long ago, before you had words for them. Be patient with yourself while you practise. Every time you pause instead of reacting, the next pause becomes a little easier.